and Ward have the inside track? Just as soon as I can
send word around we'll test our new system of bringing a bunch of the
Fox scouts together. And then, if the boys are willing, we'll try and
discover where Willie Boggs has wandered. It's a glorious opportunity to
find out if what we've learned is worth having. Here goes then, to send
out the call for help!"

CHAPTER XXV

A CAMP IN THE WOODS

"Why, Paul, what's all this hurry mean?"

"I just want to get a few bites of supper, mother, and then rush off.
I've sent out the call for a hurry meeting of the patrol. Some people
call it the emergency signal. Every one of the scouts knows what it
means. Those who can get out will be gathering here inside of half an
hour."

"But it must be something very unusual that urges you to do this. You've
been on the go all afternoon, and I don't know that it is wise to bolt
your supper in such a style, just to be ready to greet the boys when they
arrive."

"Mother, you don't understand. Father hasn't come back from his afternoon
round of visits, has he? Then you couldn't possibly know," went on Paul.

"Know--what, my son?" questioned his mother, seeing that the boy was
worked up more than usual.

"We're going to organize a searching party. Perhaps some of the scouts
may be smart enough to get on the track. It's poor little Willie Boggs,
mother."

"Searching party--Willie Boggs! Is the child lost?"

"Yes, and has been ever since before noon, in the big woods. You see it's
just beginning to get dark now. Think of the poor little fellow wandering
perhaps miles off in the woods. What if a storm should come up?" and
Paul's manner told how he felt.

"But there are no wild animals large enough to injure the child. The most
he could suffer would be exposure to the night air; that and the fright
of finding himself alone. Oh! it is a terrible thing though; and little
Willie is all his poor father has left. It would kill him if anything
happened," declared the good lady, whose heart was very tender.

"Now you see why I'm in such a hurry to get a bite, mother. Every minute
might count, for perhaps he is wandering further and further away. You'll
let Jane get me something in a jiffy, won't you, now?" continued the
eager lad.

"Gladly, and help her too, after you have told me more. How do you boys
expect to look for the child in the blackness of those woods?"

"Every scout will carry a lantern, with which we have practiced